Yamaha Motor Research and Development India, the brand’s fifth R&D centre worldwide established in February this year, is working on a project to deliver what is claimed will be “the world’s cheapest motorcycle” with a retail price of around £330 ($500). Yamaha says the intention is to make its Indian operations into a global hub for production of ultra-low-cost bikes, both for sale in India and export to emerging markets in Africa and Latin America.
“Our objective is to develop the lowest-cost model in the world and lowest-cost parts,” explained the new unit’s managing director Toshikazu Kobayashi, adding that the machine will nevertheless have an engine capacity of 100cc or more.